Fans have been waiting for another true entry in the Banjo-Kazooie series for quite some time. After the latest title featuring the beloved bird and bear combo, Nuts & Bolts, didn’t quite live up to fans’ platform-centric expectations, the wait for another true entry in the franchise has been unbearable for many. Fortunately, a group of dedicated ex-Rare staffers plan on correcting this injustice with a spiritual successor.
This software may be without an official title, currently operating under the monicker of Project Ukulele, but that hasn’t stopped EDGE from getting the scoop on Playtonic Games’ Banjo-Kazooie successor. To help get fans excited about the forthcoming game, however, the dev has released a teaser image ahead of the game’s more in-depth unveiling on February 12, 2015.
According to the newly-founded studio, there are currently six former Rare employees working on Project Ukulele, and the team is hoping to double its employees as development ramps up. Together the group of developers have worked on classics like Donkey Kong Country and, appropriately, Banjo-Kazooie, which means that the pedigree of the newly assembled staff is promising for both longtime fans and any potential partners – the latter of which is something that the new developer wouldn’t be against, provided there’s mutual interest.
One company that many longstanding fans would undoubtedly love to see a partnership form with is Nintendo, and Playtonic Games quickly confirmed that it too would be interested in seeing that happen.
As we’ve reported in the past, Playtonic Games (under the guise of Mingy Jongo) had been teasing a spiritual successor to the fan-favorite Banjo-Kazooie franchise, but those promises failed to bear any fruit before the project was eventually scrapped. However, the Twitter handle rebounded and began teasing what finally looks to be a full game based roughly on the misadventures of the backpack-wearing bear and wise-cracking, red-crested breegull.
“There’s a history of working with Nintendo so we’d naturally love to see our game on a Nintendo platform. If people tell us to make Wii U our target console platform then we’ve got the flexibility to do that.”
Right now the game is slated for Steam early access, but the studio seems keen on bringing the platformer to consoles if fan demand is high enough. In the meantime, all fans can do is wait and see what lies in store for Project Ukulele.
Source: Playtonic Games (via NeoGAF)
